Road trip

The boot and the back seat were filled to the point that Jaune was worried that something was going to break, but Ruby insisted on taking everything. "What if they needed it?" Would they need 6 tubs of cookie dough? Jaune had his doubts.

It was a tight squeeze, but luckily Jaune had become used to those since dating Ruby. She tended to forget quite how much taller he was than her, so having legroom was a thing of the past. Thankfully, he was in the driver's seat so he tended to have a little extra space. He at least had it better than Ruby, who had to balance ice cold drinks in a cooler on her lap.

Normally they would have just kept it in the boot, but with how hot it's gotten, the two of them had decided that they needed some refreshments while in the car. There wasn't any alcohol in that cooler; Jaune was driving, so he wasn't drinking and Ruby didn't want to drive alone.

It was pretty peaceful. To celebrate their three-month anniversary, the two of them had rented a cabin in the woods for a little romantic trip. It was a surprisingly cheap endeavour, which had confused them both, but luckily Weiss had explained things to them. With Grimm afoot, only hunters would make retreats in the wild for leisure.

Unable to help but steal glances at Ruby, Jaune smiled at her, raising one of his hands to let it cup her hand, which she was quick to squeeze in return, smiling softly at him. They had driven for over an hour now, and the two of them had gotten restless. The cooler had been moved to under Ruby's feet, allowing her to relax somewhat, but it was clear that the both of them needed to stretch their legs.

Ruby's foot tapped against the ice cooler as Jaune gripped the wheel tightly with one of his hands, the other holding onto Ruby's hand in a soft grip, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing her knuckles. "It looks pretty sunny outside. Do you want to stop for a bit to eat? There are strawberries in the cooler that we can have." Jaune suggested, making her nod with a smile.

"That sounds perfect." She grinned back at him, leaning forward to let her forehead rest against his shoulder while he slowly pulled the car up on the dirt road. He nodded to the grass-covered ground as he thought about sitting there.

As usual, before he could get outside to open up her door, she was already up on her feet and opening the door for him, causing the blonde to smile. "You gotta let me open the door for you at least once." He told her playfully, taking off his seatbelt before he pulled himself to his feet.

"Nope." The silver-eyed woman refused with a cheeky grin, leaning forward to gently kiss his chin before she let out an eep as she felt Jaune grab onto her body and pull her in close.

Looking up at him in confusion as he didn't kiss her like she was expecting, Ruby frowned as she saw the strain on his face. Looking behind her, she realised that the only thing that had kept a Beowolf's claw from connecting with her back was Jaune's forearm as he caught the blow. His aura protected his skin from any damage even if his sleeve wasn't so lucky.

"Hey Ruby, do you mind grabbing my sword from the boot? I'll kill these Grimm while you get everything set up?" He asked her, the silver-eyed woman quickly nodding knowing that a couple of Beowolves wasn't an issue. She moved to the side expertly to avoid Jaune's other arm, his fist smashing into the bridge of the Grimm's snout, making it fall back.

He wasn't quite as strong as Nora, or even Yang, but he could still pack a punch, his hands raising defensively as he saw the four Beowolves in front of him, the largest one being at the back. The Alpha, probably.

The other Beowolves didn't stay still, seeing their chance to attack, making Jaune scramble to move. He dodged under the first blow and used his arm to block the second. "Jaune, catch!" Ruby's voice called, costing him, as the distraction made him unable to avoid the alpha. He felt its claws rake against his chest, tearing his shirt, but otherwise unable to do much damage thanks to his aura as Jaune managed to catch his blade.

Then he slammed it forward, smashing the pommel of the blade into the alpha's jaw, causing part of the bone armour to crack.

"Thanks Ruby, this won't take long." He told her with a smile, quickly pulling out his sword and dropping the sheath onto the ground.

He gripped the handle in both hands, turning his attention from Ruby to the Grimm instead before he lunged forward. He used the length of the sword to block a clawed strike, before thrusting the sword forward, piercing the beast's chest with his blade.

The ancestral blade sunk through bone and flesh as if it was made of tissue, its body already dissolving before he could even pull the blade out. Then, he stumbled backwards as a claw raked against his shoulder.

So caught up in his focus on fighting the Grimm, Jaune found himself unaware of his girlfriend's stares.

Ruby had started to get their picnic ready as Jaune had asked her, but that was as far as she had gotten as she found her focus fixed on her blonde boyfriend.

She knew that if she was using Crescent Rose, she would have been able to beat the Grimm much, much quicker, but there was something about him trading blows with the monsters to defend her that made her cheeks flush, unable to look away. His aura kept him from getting hurt, but his shirt wasn't so lucky as toned sweaty skin was revealed to her eyes.

Sadly, the show ended too soon for her as Jaune finished off the other Grimm, turning back to her with a breathless smile. "Well, that wasn't so hard." He murmured to her with a smile, before raising a brow upon seeing the blanket on the ground. "Did something happen?" He asked her, making her flush.

"Nothing!" Was her quick, high-pitched response.